Snowshoe Mountain (The Shew), is located in Snowshoe, West Virginia and is part of the Allegheny Mountains. Despite the name of the resort, the ski area is located on Cheat Mountain. Cheat Mountain is the second highest mountain in the state of West Virginia which tops out at 4,848 feet, only 15 feet smaller than Spruce Mountain. The resort, which is the largest winter resort in the mid-Atlantic, has 256 skiable acres and 14 lifts, including 3 high speed quads servicing Snowshoe's 57 trails. The resort receives between 125-135 inches of snow per year, however the area is known to supplement Mother Nature with a robust snowmaking system.
Snowshoe owned by Alterra Mountain Company.
Lower Shay’s Revenge in all of its bumped up glory - Photo provided by Showshoe Mountain.
Lower Shay’s Revenge
On the backside of Snowshoe Mountain is an area named the Western Territory which is home to two ski trails. On the left side of the of the Western Express high-speed quad, as you look at the mountain is the black diamond trail, Cupp Run which was designed by 1968 three-time Olympic gold medal winner, Jean-Claude Killy. On the other side of the lift is a trail that was cut in 1998 called Shay’s Revenge. Shay’s Revenge is divided into two sections, Shay’s Revenge and Lower Shay’s Revenge that result in a combined 1500-foot vertical drop. The upper half of Shay’s is a run of the mill, generic black diamond that your average skier can skid and slide down and the advanced skier can strap on the rocket boosters and melt the bases of their skis. For the less confident skiers, there is a bailout option to Cupp Run to avoid Lower Shay’s Revenge. Lower Shay’s is a double black diamond, although when it was opened in 1998 it was a black diamond and subsequently upgraded to a double black. Lower Shay’s is often marketed as the longest, steepest mogul field south of the Mason-Dixon line. The trail measures 3554 feet long and easily the longest double black diamond south of the Mason-Dixon. However, it is not the steepest, that title goes to Whoopdeedoo at Sugar Mountain, NC which checks in with a sustained pitch of 31.21, compared to Lower Shay’s sustained pitch of 26.47. However, Whoopdeedoo is frequently groomed and is much shorter than Lower Shay’s. Snowshoe blows a lot of snow on this steep section and it is generally open with big bumps for a major portion of the ski season.
Shays’ is arguably the toughest run in West Virginia and as some of the locals down in the hollow would say, “Meema, I’d done gotton on Shay’s and the mogul’s just kep’a comin’ and boy it liketa scared me to death.”
Looking down Lower Shays from the top. Photo provided by Snowshoe Mountain